Speaking in an interview with Reuters on November 9 in Berlin, ex-defense minister Irakli Okruashvili said he did not think that there would be fair president elections in Georgia.

President Saakashvili calls early presidential polls for January 5.

“Probably there will be enough time to find a leader [for the opposition] but there won't be enough time and enough sources to conduct the campaign because all the opposition media is shut down and all the businesses are terrorized who have the financial sources to support the opposition,” he said.

Okruashvili will not be eligible to run for presidency, as the minimum age for a would-be president is 35. He will only turn 35 in November 2008.

He has also denied the Georgian authorities’ accusations that Russia was behind the opposition’s campaign. Allegations of this type, he said, aimed at discrediting opposition forces in Georgia.